Portable rail grinding machine



Dec. 5, 1933.

s. R. OLDHAM ET AL 1,937,665

PORTABLE RAIL GRINDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 10, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l I NVENTOR s ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 5, 1933. v

s. R. IO-LDHAM ET AL 37,665

PORTABLE RAIL GRINDING MACHINE 'Filed Jan. 10, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 r 5 wi Minn.

Paiented Dec. 5, .1933 I FEE] I 1,937,665 7 g I PORTABLERAIL GRINDING MACHINE I Saniuel R. omham; Chicago, and C. Hasse, i

La Grange; 11L, assignors to The Oxweld Rail-f road'Service Company, a corporation of Dela ware Application January 10, 1929. Serial No. 331,521 t Claims. c1'."51 -17s) l I This invention pertains to portable grinding machines and more specifically to such a ma-- chine-especially adapted for grinding the repaired tread. of used railroad rails. i

When inservice railroad'rails' wear more rapidly at the ends than at intermediate portions and, consequently, need to be replaced when all but the ends are in condition to give satisfactory service for a long period of time. In order to prolong the life of such rails the 'worn' ends are built up with metal added'by a fusion welding process and then the added metal is ground down to the original contour line of the rail. On elecric roads this grinding-is usuallydone by an emery wheel held in the hands of a workman and driven through a flexible shaft by an electric motor which draws its current from the roads distributing'system. This method of grinding is slow as it is difiicult for an operator to hold an emery wheel rigid enough to fully utilize its cutting ability, and the results obtained are of inferior quality as it is difficult to manipulate a wheel such as usually used for this clas's' of work. While 'rails on railroads that are not, electrified may also'have their life prolonged by' full extent of their ability. Another object is to provide a portable grinding machine that will produce a smooth surface without the exercise of unusual skill in its operation.- Another object isto provide portable grinding machine having a single source of power for driving the. abrasive'and for propelling the grinding Ina-Q chine along a railroad track. Other aims. ob- ;iects, and novel features, will be apparent from the drawings and irom'the following description. The above aims andobjectsof the present invention are attained by thernechanism shown in the accompanying drawings, in which;

Fig. 1 is a reduced side elevation of our improved portable grinding machine'showing the general arrangementl of its component parts;

Fig.2 is areduced plan view of the supporting means for the abrasivelwhic h is s hown in fopera- Fig. 5 is a section along the fine 5%5 or g. {4

looking in the direction ofthe arrowsjandi EQE tive position over one rail of the'track on Fig. '6 is a section along the'line -6 of Fig 3 looking in the direction'of the' arrows. w

The portable grail grinding machine the drawingmay comprise abrading meansA such 7 as an abrasive disk, carried bysupporting means Bin the form 'of a swinging thatis-hinged to-the transporting means 0 which may 'b'e a railroad track car, and rotated by a driving means D such as the gasoline engine thatpropel's the caralong the railroad track onwhich it is adapted to run.

" The abrading means A may be abrasive'disk such as those made byC. HkBesley L8; co npany, of Chicago, Ill I, andcompose'djo'f an abrasive grain suchas corundum'or emery attached to a cloth backing by a suitable bond or adhesive.

Suchabrasive disks cut rapidly and are notliable to become broken and fly apart unders m conditions of service," abuse or accident; and injure thegrinding machine operator or some other person who may be nearby? The'fabraSiVe-disk' 10 is cemented to a suitable metaljsupportingdisk 11 by one of the cements made by theisai d Cpl-I. Besley & Company -for that purpose and well known in the arts and'trades. Upon the upper side of the metal disk 1l is a hub fl2 by means of which the disk ll'is threaded to a' vertical spindle 13 forming part 'of' the supporting means B. I f 1 The supportingmeans B may comprise aver; tical spindle 13 carried byfa 'sliding carriage'l i by means of the rol1er bearingsl 5"and which the spindle 13' is fre'to rotate. 'The carria'ge 14 is attachedto'the'outerfend' ofa' swing 'ing arm 17 by the-gib .1 8-'so it is free to slide up or down thereon. The gib lii may bean integral part of'the arm 17 or it may be a separatepart attached to the arm l? by the bolts l8'. At

tachedto the front of the" gib 18 by means of the screws 19 are two racks 20 and 21 which are locatedso one rackfis at each sideof the carriage 14. Attached: to the right side of the carriage 14 by the screw 22 is a pinion'23 "that 'me'shes the :gear box 40 so the movable arm 17 is secured to shaft 41 rotates at the same speed. The gear with the rack 21 and carries an outwardly extending tube 24 towhich the operating handles 25 are attached and by which the pinion 23 is manually rotated to move the carriage 14 up and down. Attached to the left sideof the carriage 14 is a pinion 26, similar to the opposed pinion 23, which meshes with the rack 20 and also carries an outwardly extending tube 27 to which the operating handles 28 are attached. One of the pinions 23 and 26, and the rack 20 or 21 with which it meshes, may be dispensed with for the sake of economy as the duplication of racks, pinions, and handles, is to make the operation of raising andlowering the'carriage 14 and the abrasive disk lo more convenient for the person operating the grinding machine. The spindle 13 extends upward some distance above the top of the carriage 14, and mounted on this portion of the spindle 13 with a loosesliding fit is'a pulley 29 which is held so itrotates with the spindle 13 by the key 30 which is secured to the spindle 13 andslides in a keyway in the pulley 29. A guard 31 is secured to the :gib 18 by the machine V screw 32 so it extends upward past the pulley 29 of the guard 31 extends alongnthe lower face of the pulley 29 and terminates in a bifurcated end 35, similar in form to that of 33,.wh-ich partially surrounds the spindle 13 just below the lower end of the hub 34 of the pulley 29. The guard 31 holds the pulley 29 n a substantially fixed vertical, position with relation to the arm 17 when is desirable.

the carriage '14 is moved up and down relative ings 36 and 37 that respectively surround cylindrical pivots .38 and 39 which extend in alignment upward and downward respectively from to the stationary car and gear box 40 by a vertical pivot. v v v The driving means D may comprise a gear box 40 having a vertical, shaft 41 extending from within the gear box upward through the pivot the gear box out-ward laterally and carrying at its outer end a pulley 44. Rigidly attached to the inner ends of the shafts 41 and 43 respec-' tively-are intermeshed miter gears 45 and 46 so related that when the shaft 43 is driven the box 40 .may be substantially oil tight so it ,may be more or less-completely filled with oil .or grease to lubricate the gears 45'and 46 therein.

2 It is understood, of course, that it is not :imperative to employ miter gears toconnect the shafts 41 and43 as gears'havinga difierent ratio may be employed with equal. facility or even with an added advantage Where a different gear ratio The gear box 40 may also have an attaching plate 47, which may be integral or otherwise, by means of which the gear box is secured to one end of the track car 48 by the bolts 49, substantiallymidway between the wheels.

The transporting means 0 may comprise atrack car 48 of any kind that is light enough to be manually handled. It may have fourwheels 50 adapted for running on the rails 51 of a railroad track, and a gasoline engine 52 adapted for propelling the car 48 along the railroad track. Such a car is made by the Buda Company of Harvey, Illinois, and is known as the No. 419 Buda'Trackster. While the Buda Trackster is especially well adapted for assembly as a component part of the portable grinding machine described herein,

other track cars may, however, be used.

' The driving means D may also comprise the gasoline engine 52 having a pulley 53 on the outer end of its crank shaft and in alignment with the pulley 44 on the gear box 40. A horizontal belt 54 runs on the horizontal pulleys 44 and 53, and a vertical belt 55' runs on the vertical pulleys 29 and 42. The tension of the horizontal belt 54 may be varied by the idler pulley 56 which is carried by the arm 57, which, in turn is controlled by the adjustable hand lever :58 to press the pulley 56 against the belt 54 with various degrees of pressure. The idler pulley 56 and the hand lever 58 may be held in their various adjusted positions by a notched quadrant 59. A belt guard 31' may surround the belt 55 and be carried by the guard I which the carruns, it follows that when the surface ofone of the rails is to be ground that the arm 17 must be swung to either one side -or the other so the abrasive disk 10 is over the particular rail to be operated on. ,The arm 17 maybe held in this operating position by an adjustable brace red 60. The outer end of the rod '60 is supported loosely in a sleeve-'61 that is pivoted to the arm 17, and the inner end of the rod 69 is threaded in a nut "62, that is pivoted to a bracket 63, which in turnis-attached to the end of the car=48 near one side by the screw 64. A stationary collar :65

rigidly attached to the rod :60 at one side of the sleeve 61, and a removable .collar 66 attached to the red 60 at the other side of the sleeve .61, keeps therod from sliding endw-ise through the sleeve but,.at the same time provides a swivel connection, and permits the rod 60120 rotate in the sleeve 61 as it is screwed various distances in or out of the nut 62 to adjust the position of the arm 17 relative to the rail over which the abrasive disk 10 is positioned. The rod 60 extends outward beyond the sleeve '61 to a point approximately opposite the outer end of the arm :17, and attached to the outer end of the rod 69 is a crank 67 by which the rod may be -conveniently rotated by the operator to adjust the position of the abrasive disk 10 over the rail, v ;When it is desirable to position the abrasive disk 10 over, the opposite rail from that over which it is shown inFig. 2, the, rod 60 is .unscrewed from the nut 62, and the collar 66 is removed :from the rod 60 which is slid endwise out of the sleeve 61. Then t-he arm 1.71s swung across the track so the abrasive disk 10 is over the opposite-rail and the rod 60 is inserted in the sleeve 61 from the opposite side of the arm 17. 'The track on which it is used, by the gasoline engine 54 of the driving means'D in the same manner as the track car 48 might be run ifthe means for grinding rails were not attached to it.

' When the portable grinding machine is used to grind down or remove thesurplus metal from a repaired portion of the upper surface or tread of a rail, the track car 48 is left on the rails of the railroad track and the arm 17 is swung to one side or the other so the abrasive disk-10 is positioned over the repaired portion of the rail to be ground, where it is secured by the brace rod in the manner already described. If the belt 54' is not already on the pulley 53, it is placed there and the gasoline engine 52 isstarted. The idler pulley 56 is then adjusted bymeans of the hand lever 58 so the belt 54 has sufficienttension to. drive the abrasive disk 10. Thus the engine52 that is used to propel the track car 48 along the railroad track is also used to drive the abrasive disk 10, thereby overcoming the need of providing two separate sources of power.

When the abrasive disk 10 is driven by the gasoline engine 52, the engine power is transmitted to the disk by the following parts of the grinding machine in substantially the order named. From the engine pulley 53 through the belt 54, pulley 44, shaft 43, bevel gear 46, bevel gear 45, shaft 41, pulley 42, belt 55, pulley 29, spindle 13, hub 12, and supporting disk 11, to the abrasive disklO.

With the abrasive disk 10 positioned over a repaired portion of the rail 51 on which the track car 48 is resting, the operation of grinding the surplus metal from the repaired portion is as follows. By manually manipulating one of the carriage control handles, such as 25, the pinion 23 is rotated so it rolls down the rack 21, with which it is in mesh, and forces the carriage 14 downward, which in turn carries the spindle l3 and the abrasive disk 10 with it, and thereby the abrasive disk 10 is brought into contact with the repaired portion of the rail. When grinding a flat surface, such as the tread of a rail, by a fiat abrading surface, such as the abrasive disk 10, a certain amount of traverse motion is usually employed to increase the grinding speed and decrease the heat generated. This traverse motion may be imparted to the abrasive disk 10 by turning the handle 6'7 and screwing the rod 60 in and out of the nut 62, thereby swinging the arm 17 and theabrasive disk 10 back and forth across the rail, or the track car 48 may be slowly moved back and forth along the track by the operator.

Some of the unique results obtained by the novel construction and arrangement of the portable grinding machine shown and described herein are as follows. By employing a gasoline engine as a source of power the grinding machine may be used on any railroad regardless of whether it is electrified or not. If desirable on electrified roads the gasoline engine may be dispensed with and an electric motor used in its stead, or the gasoline engine may be used to propel the car along the track and an electric motor may be used to drive the abrading means.

The abrasive disk 10 is used as the abrading means on account of its rapid cutting qualities.

While a cylindrical emery wheel might be used instead, the disks are preferred because they cut more rapidly, withstand a greater amount of abuse and, should they become broken and fly apart, they are so thin and light that the parts thrown off are not liable to seriously injure an operator if at all.

By employing the rigid arm 17 to support the abrasive disk 10, and by employing a positive and powerful means of moving the carriage l4 tozfcrce the disk against the rail, the cutting qualities of the disk may beutilized to thefullest extent of their ability. I By using an abrasive-disk that presentsa flat surface to the rail, instead of a cylindrical surface such as that presented. by an emery wheel, a smoothv flat surface may be secured on the portion'ground by the abrasive with the exer; cise of but little skill or experience on the part of the operator. In fact, with our improved grinding. machine an unskilled operator may produce a smoother :surface than askilled op.- erator could with a manually supported cylindrical emery wheel such as usually employed.

Furthermore, by arranging the grinding machine so a single source .of power, such as the gasoline engine 52, propels. the machinealong the railroad track upon which it operates, and 95 also drives the abrading means,.such asthe abrasive disk l0, by which the grinding operation is performed, the cost of the machine is reduced, its range of usefulness is'increased, and duplication of expensive parts is avoided.

Various changes in the. arrangement, alterations in the construction, and substitutions for the materials and elements, may be made in the grinding machine without departing from the invention or sacrificing any of the rights thereunder. 3 v a 1 We claim:

1. In a portable rail grinding apparatus, a car,

an arm pivotally supported at one end by said car and having its other end free for lateral swinging movement with respect to said car and to the surface to be ground, a revoluble tool-carrying spindle at the free end of said arm, means for vertically adjusting said spindle, and means connected with said arm and including .a rod axially adjustable with respect to said car for positioning said arm laterally with respect to said surface and for imparting a limited'later'al movement to said arm when so positioned, thereby to shift the tool relatively to said surface.

2. In a portable rail grinding apparatus, a car, an arm pivotally supported at one end by said car and having its other end free for lateral swinging movement with respect to said car and tothe surface to be ground, a revoluble tool carrying spindle at the free end of said arm, means for vertically adjusting said spindle, and means connected with said arm and including a rotatable rod normally axially fixed with respect thereto but axially adjustable with respect to said car for positioning'said arm laterally with respect to said surface and for imparting a limited lateral movement to said arm .when so positioned, thereby to shift, the tool relatively to said surface.

3. In a portable rail grinding apparatus, a car, an arm pivotally supported at one end by said car and having its other end free for lateral swinging movement with respect to said car and to the surface to be ground, a revoluble toolcarrying spindle at the free end of said arm, means for vertically adjusting said spindle, and means including a rod connected with said arm by a swivel connection and having a screwthreaded connection with said car whereby said arm may be laterally positioned with respect to said surface, said screw-threadedconnections operable for imparting a limited lateral movement to said arm when so positioned to shift the tool relatively to-said surface.

' and provided at one end with an operating handle and at its other end with a screw-threaded portion, complementary screw-threaded means carried by said car and cooperatively engaged with the screw-threaded portion of said rod, the

connection of said rod with said arm and car,

providing a means whereby said arm may be laterally positioned with respect to said sllrface, and the screw thread'ed connection of the end of said rod with the complementary means on said car providing for adjustment of said arm to shift the tool relatively to said surface.

5. In a portable rail grinding apparatus, 2.

car, an arm 'pivotally supported at one end by said car and having its other end free for lateral swinging movement with respect to said car and to the surface to be ground, a revolubletoolcarrying spindle at the vfree end of said arm, means 'for vertically adjusting said spindle, a swivel connection carried by said arm, a rod rotatably mounted in said swivel connection and normally axially fixed relatively thereto but capable of separation therefrom, and a rod receiving member carried by said car at each side of the pivotal support of said arm thereon, each member being adapted selectively toreceive the end of said rod for positioning said arm with respect to said surface laterally of said car, said rod axially adjustable with respect toithe en-. gaged member forimparting a limitedlateral movement to said arm' when so positioned to shift the tool relatively to said surface.

SAMUEL R. OLDI-IAM FRANK C. HASSE. 1 l 

